"Curse you, heathen!"
A woman lunged forward, her voice raw with fury.
"Release me at once!" Huo roared. "You will pay dearly for the suffering inflicted upon my people!"
Though the Firebender's wrists were shackled in cold steel, Mayumi's instincts urged her into a defensive stance. Yet, despite Huo's fury, the Inquisitor demonstrated the poise of a seasoned host, using the pommel of his blade to strike the unruly prisoner with swift precision.
The Firebender was flung backward in pain. At that moment, Mayumi caught sight of the earthen bindings encasing Huo's hands, solidified and unyielding. The hardened cuffs restrained her arms and most crucially, suppressed any flame that might burst forth from the acolyte's palms.
Yet, the Dai Li had overlooked one thing, they had not silenced the fanatic's tongue.
"How dare you masquerade as a servant of the Master!" Huo spat venomously at Mayumi. "Such deceit condemns you to eternal damnation! By conspiring with the Dai Li agents who persecute my righteous brothers and sisters, you sully any chance of forgiveness and redemption! Consider yourself fortunate, for not all are embraced by the Master's merciful hands!"
Had it not been for the ever-watchful Dai Li surrounding her, the Kyoshi Warrior might have been tempted to silence this vexing zealot, permanently.
"I will allow you both time to catch up," the Inquisitor declared rather mundanely. "There are some objects I must retrieve."
Locked in Huo's blazing glare, Mayumi also refused to yield. To her, this troublesome stranger had ambushed unknown travelers under the flimsy guise of divine purpose. Whether the Inquisitor had deliberately brought her here to provoke her was a question she pondered silently.
"I question the purpose of my presence," Mayumi began. "It seems a waste of time to engage with someone so morally unmoored, who believes there is no wrongdoing in abducting two strangers. Such a blatant absence of logic falls far below the level of discourse I can tolerate."
It was not as though she had never conversed with Huo or others of her ilk, whose perplexing and often illogical rhetoric exalted a vague and inscrutable figure of worship, around whom all morality and purpose inexplicably revolved. The irony is thick, as their proclamations of peace and humility stood in stark contrast to the devastation they left in their wake.
In a curious twist of fate, the existence of these so-called Acolytes of San Bao compelled Mayumi to feel a grudging gratitude toward the ruthless Dai Li. A sacrilegious sentiment for someone of her stature.
"Who sent you?" Mayumi asked, almost tired, knowing she lacked the ruthless cunning of the Dai Li agents nearby. "What grievance drives people like you to conspire against my home? What schemes lurk beneath your loyalty?"
Huo answered only with a cold, venomous glare.
"If you refuse to speak, I will feed you to the Unag—"
Mayumi abruptly stopped herself. An ingrained habit urged her to invoke the name of the monstrous eel that prowled near her village, but such a threat is hollow here unless that ancient serpent chose to swim all the way to Ba Sing Se.
"Perhaps I should lend you a finger crusher instead?"
She spun around to see Zhu Di's partner, who had arrived unnoticed.
"You're new to this," he said bluntly. "Kindness won't get you anywhere with vermin like these. Without a bit of pain, they'll never crack."
Forcing out some pleasantry, Mayumi replied. "I doubt pain alone will suffice. I assume you haven't faced them in battle. An entire city fell to these... people. They used their own bodies as ladders to scale the walls."
She wasn't certain how much experience these Dai Li had with the Acolytes of San Bao, who had so far only sought to vanish from the state's relentless gaze. But in combat, these fanatics were recklessly perilous, utterly indifferent to their own lives if it meant destroying those they deemed enemies of their faith.
"The devout don't fear petty tortures," the Inquisitor added, returning with a sack of confiscated belongings and another prisoner in tow. "How can pain or mercy sway those who sanctify their suffering? It only fuels their fanatic delusions. That is something I will not permit."
Mayumi's eyes fell on the newcomer, the teashop owner, who is visibly haunted by recent events. A dark stain of blood seeped from his lips. Though unspoken, Mayumi suspected he had bitten down hard on his tongue, silencing himself to deny the Dai Li any words that might betray the Acolytes. Yet this self-inflicted injury diminished his usefulness, a precarious gamble.
Huo's gaze snapped sharply to the painted Dai Li. Unlike the others, she showed no flicker of doubt before the inquisitor, nor did she waver at the shadow of death cast by her faith.
But when the Inquisitor dumped the contents of the sack onto a table, a battered book and a fragile parchment, Huo recoiled in visible horror at the careless handling.
Where once there had been steely resolve, now desperation flickered, an evolution that left Mayumi quietly stunned.
"Peon," the Dai Li spat, cold and commanding. "Answer my questions fully. I demand that you reveal everything you know about the one you call Master. Spare no detail."
Although the acolytes, captured or free, often herald the inevitable downfall of Ba Sing Se and its supposed assimilation into the Master's so-called Heavenly Kingdom, these zealots remain frustratingly vague about the specifics. Cloaked in grandiloquent phrases and shadowy allegories, they likely lack any true comprehension themselves, let alone possess the will to divulge the full scope of their distant deity's cryptic designs. Above all, the notion that some fringe spiritual faction could openly challenge the Northern Earth Kingdom's greatest state is sheer folly, an asinine delusion.
"I refuse!" Huo snapped, her voice sharp as a blade, eyes blazing with defiance at the interrogator. "You are grievously mistaken! We are not your enemies! The Master seeks only to restore hope and heal a fractured world. Your corrupt ways cry out for correction. Why is it so difficult for you to lift the veil from your eyes and accept the truth? To resist the True Father's light is not merely futile, it is a deeply perverse sin. Yet even so, the Master's mercy extends to those who persecute his devoted followers. Repent and reshape yourselves in accordance with the Eternal Balance and the Three Noble Virtues, and the Master shall grant you grace."
Mayumi watched quietly as the Inquisitor offered no reply. Instead, with measured calm, he ignited a slender candle upon the table, the tiny flame flickering like a silent warning. For things such as books and scrolls, there could be no crueler adversary than fire.
Huo's face paled, mortification evident as she wrestled with the unspoken threat. Would the Dai Li force her to choose which to save, her sacred parchment from the Master or the fragile book of little significance? Yet, any true acolyte would place the Master's triumph above all else, for the message she bore eclipsed the worth of any tattered book.
"I can never betray the Master," Huo declared, her voice steady despite the turmoil within.
"And my patience is not a luxury afforded to all," the Inquisitor replied, clutching the battered journal tighter. Huo's heart clenched, agony flaring at the sight of the book's worn condition. Just as he raised the journal toward the candle's hungry flame, he paused, turning his attention to another matter.
Unfurling the parchment, supposedly written by the so-called Master, the Dai Li demanded that Huo decode its cryptic message. The method, threatening to incinerate a cherished relic, is a subtle cruelty that did not escape Mayumi's notice.
"Reveal the true meaning of this scroll, and I will spare the heirloom of your mother," the Inquisitor declared plainly, holding the fragile document before Huo's eyes.
The script was barely legible, smudged and uneven, the handiwork of a hurried or untrained hand filled with the kind of vague, lofty language that these acolytes so habitually wield.
Prepare me a throne, for I shall descend upon this city.
The rivers shall part, the horns will sound, and the walls shall crumble.
Zhu Di's companion let out a soft chuckle, amused by the hubris of the charlatan venerated by these deluded zealots. Mayumi waited for the Inquisitor to read further, only to find that the entire parchment contained but this solitary, portentous sentence.
At that moment, she could only wonder what other absurdities might these fanatics conjure from their fevered minds?
"Sedition and treason are grave offenses," the Inquisitor intoned with a shadowed menace. "Tell me, peon, how much faith do you place in that Master of yours? Should those who come from beyond these walls seek to sow chaos, I would personally see them sentenced by waist chop. Or worse."
The Dai Li sought deeper knowledge of this enigmatic Master. As cultural guardians with scant influence beyond the city's formidable walls, their information came piecemeal, whispers from merchants, diplomats, and shadowy informants of every ilk. Amidst the ceaseless strife of warring states vying for fractured territories, it is inevitable that some random city or two bore the banner of this new spiritual movement, one that aspired to be the sole faith revered across the land. Yet, no matter how ruthless the suppression, the Acolytes of San Bao and their pervasive creed endured, a tenacious thorn impervious to walls or armies. Even now, the true identity of this inscrutable Master, so revered by the zealots, remained shrouded in mystery.
"The Master is no man to be discredited by scoundrels like you! You are not even worthy to be his slaves!" The Firebender's voice cracked with righteous fury. "Sure, mock his mannerisms all you like. But what measure do you use to judge wisdom? You worldly men gorge on selfish desires, willfully blind to the Master's enlightening truth. You sneer at his inexplicable ways simply because your feeble minds cannot fathom a fraction of his omnipotence."
"Oh, indeed?" The enforcer's eyes glinted with sardonic amusement. "Then perhaps, as a devoted acolyte, your personal encounters with this glorified padrone might illuminate his supposed greatness for me."
Mayumi detected the trap, a subtle gambit by the Dai Li to coax more from Huo's lips than prudence warranted, hoping to pry secrets about the Master amidst her impassioned tirade.
"The Master's greatness is not to be underestimated, foolish Dai Li," Huo began, her voice alight with fervor. "Those unillumined by his radiance can never grasp his true intentions. Even I, one of his humble servants, can only imagine the unfathomable wisdom meticulously woven from Republic City to Ba Sing Se. You may deem him inept at conveying his teachings, but the fact that his messages confound your crude minds proves he foresaw this very predicament. I do not know how he achieved it, but there is no need to question. The True Father prepared for my imprisonment, perhaps deliberately encoding the writings so that the unworthy cannot decipher them. None can deny it has worked thus far. If this does not inspire awe for my Master's foresight, I cannot fathom what will pierce your dense skulls."
The Inquisitor's gaze narrowed, a noticeable change considering the black and white face paint that masks his identity.
"If you refuse to reveal more about the one you serve, perhaps you will eagerly explain your association with the esteemed guest standing before us," he said, instinctively knowing the acolyte would not resist extolling her Master's grandeur and the curious connection to an insignificant island.
Huo unleashed her accusations without restraint. She denounced Mayumi as a foul woman, an idolater, a blasphemer whose words and deeds surely affronted the Master's will. She also bore a bitter grievance tied to an unresolved feud, entwined with the Master's desire to bring his teachings to Kyoshi Island.
"The Master is all-loving and benevolent," Huo declared resolutely. "He wished only to guide the Kyoshi Warriors away from false idols and into his merciful fold. Yet, instead of gratitude, my mother suffered brutal harm at the hands of that monstrous woman named Akahana!"
Mayumi bristled, poised to refute particularly the claim that Huo's mother had ever set foot on Kyoshi Island. But she paused, recalling the futility of such argument, as many truths remained jealously guarded by village elders and leaders. Her generation lived in blissful ignorance, rarely questioning the past even as old stone ruins loomed near their village like silent sentinels of forgotten history.
"I suppose your mother Akahana is not quite as forthright as you might wish," the Inquisitor remarked, laced with a subtle taunt that instantly drew Mayumi's keen gaze. Unfazed, the Dai Li declared Huo's revelation unsurprising, almost expected. After all, the Acolytes of San Bao's purpose on Kyoshi Island is fundamentally aligned with their wider mission, to supplant the veneration of all local deities and Avatars and replace them with the worship of their so-called Master.
The interrogation unfolded with relentless precision. The Dai Li, ever vigilant custodians of cultural orthodoxy, understood all too well the threat these zealots posed, which is seeking to uproot ancestral beliefs and impose their own fanatical doctrine. It was imperative to uncover the nature of the figure behind such upheaval. Assuming this 'Master' is not merely a spectral figment haunting the deluded minds of these zealots, who cared little for their mortal vessels. Just what kind of being could inspire such reverence, justifying acts that blurred the lines of morality? Blind faith, after all, wielded its own formidable power, emboldening Huo to reiterate that the deliberately vague phrasing of the letter was designed to confound the Dai Li and obscuring the Master's true intentions.
The Inquisitor countered with a measured skepticism. "If your Master were truly omnipotent and an architect of glorious design, would he not have prevented your capture in the first place?"
Huo faltered, her mind racing to defend the infallibility of the omnipresent figure she worships. Yet, no fanatical fervor could conjure words to counter what she perceived as blasphemy. After all, this is no ordinary acolyte, she is a steadfast guardian of the Master's Three Noble Virtues. Thus, would not yield easily to the Dai Li's venomous insinuations.
"The Master's plan is flawless!" she declared, even louder this time to overcome any thoughts of doubt. "All that has transpired is by his will alone. The Master has grand designs for me and all those who are unfortunate, even if suffering must be the path. Through his power, all things are possible, even to uplift those born in poverty and powerlessness."
"And what manner of man is this Master of yours?" the Inquisitor pressed, seizing Huo's treasured journal and holding it perilously close to the flickering candlelight. "You are his chosen messenger, yes? You must surely know more about him and how he intends to summon his celestial host to Ba Sing Se."
A chill gripped Huo's heart as she watched the book so near destruction. Her reverence for the Master surpassed even the sentimental value she placed on her mother's journal, the sole heirloom she possessed. Observing quietly, Mayumi sensed that this deliberate display is intended to reveal the kind of venomous zealotry festering in the world.
Knowing that divulging even a single detail might imperil her leader, Huo again chose silence.
"Your reaction is almost comical, though hardly unexpected," the Inquisitor said calmly, tearing a blank page from the dusty volume and setting it aflame. The sudden flare made Huo recoil instinctively. Yet despite the threat, the Firebender remained unyielding, her loyalty to the Master unbroken.
"I will never betray the Master," Huo repeated, voice taut with anguish, struggling to suppress the storm of emotions stirred by the flickering candlelight that danced upon the fragile page of the journal. "My mother taught me that the sacred covenant binding us to the Master is unbreakable. If she was willing to lay down her life in his name so that his teachings might reach the ignorant corners of the world, then I too must walk that path." She dared a fleeting glance at the Kyoshi Warrior before returning her gaze to the impassive Dai Li. "To forsake the Master would be to render my mother's sacrifice meaningless. The woman named Akahana defied his will, betrayed the Eternal Balance. And I swore an oath to avenge this grievous affront on the Master's behalf."
Zhu Di's partner suppressed a smirk. As for the Inquisitor, the Dai Li tore another worthless page from the journal and let it curl into ash, the flames licking hungrily as if to torment Huo's very soul. Even Mayumi felt a grudging satisfaction in witnessing the zealot's suffering, a secret the Inquisitor no doubt already anticipates.
"Then your choice is unequivocal," the Inquisitor intoned, excessively igniting yet another page. "For the last vestiges of your mother's memory shall be consumed by fire."
Horror flickered across Huo's features, yet her faith remained unshaken.
"I yearn for the day when all bear witness to the Master's greatness, for he is merciful, wise beyond measure. If only you would—"
"Perhaps burning your mother's journal is ill-advised," the Inquisitor interrupted smoothly.
A faint glimmer of hope kindled in Huo's eyes, as if the Master's blessing had miraculously descended to shield her in this darkest hour. That fragile hope shattered when the Dai Li unexpectedly offered remaining journal, not to be destroyed, but as a 'gift' to Mayumi. The indignation simmering within Huo was palpable.
"What game is this?" Mayumi demanded, wary as ever. Every gesture by a Dai Li, trivial or grave, concealed a cunning design. Disregarding the fact that he was relinquishing a cherished heirloom and critical evidence of an acolyte's legacy.
"Our scribe has already transcribed its contents. But since the peon who wrote it was merely a pawn in this asinine game of Pai Sho, the journal itself holds nothing beyond the recycled beliefs of its author." The Inquisitor's eyes flickering between Huo's stunned silence and Mayumi's guarded expression. "Consider it a token of goodwill. After all, this worthless relic may serve you better than it does us."
To these men cloaked in shadow, the fate of Ba Sing Se and their inscrutable ambitions alone mattered. Yet, Huo's accusation that the village matron doomed her mother is a volatile claim that Mayumi could neither confirm nor dismiss, especially since Akahana and her ilk guarded the secrets of the past with stubborn silence.
"Return it! Now!" Huo's voice broke, raw with desperate fury.
Seizing this crack in her resolve, the Dai Li pressed again, probing for whispers about the Master, each word a calculated move to extract the slightest fragment of intelligence that might be wielded by the city's unseen custodians. Such underhanded leverage by preying upon what one loves would surely have provoked Avatar Kyoshi's wrath, yet who could say this is the first time such cruel tactics had been employed?
"I cannot," Huo said to the Dai Li, her voice laced with bitter resolve. For a fleeting moment, the glimmer of tears threatened to betray her steely composure. Yet her unwavering allegiance to the Master eclipsed all else. Even possession of a treasured family heirloom is a mere trifle in comparison, a cruel truth for those devoted to spreading the Eternal Balance across the world. "My mother gave me this mortal vessel, but it is the Master who has given me life and delivered me from a cruel and wicked realm. He is a man of boundless mercy, neither I nor my spiritual brothers and sisters could ever repay the debt of his grace. It is already a monumental sacrifice for one so great to feed and clothe unworthy souls like us. We can depend on no one but the Master. We trust in no truth save those he has imparted. If forced to choose between my own mother and the Master, I am prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. Whatever it may cost, I will follow him faithfully."
Mayumi struggled to reconcile such conviction. Before her stood a person from a breed she had long thought fictitious, one who regarded their own blood as less sacred than an outsider's word. Though she often extolled to Satchiko the inviolability of familial bonds, it grew increasingly harder to deny that there existed those who dismissed such virtues entirely.
She tightened her grip on the journal, sensing it might contain forbidden knowledge and answers that could yet aid her people. Whatever the Dai Li had uncovered about these fanatics obsessed with worshipping a solitary deity above all others, she thirsted for the same truths. Kyoshi Island is remote and sparsely populated, with little strategic importance or valuable resources. Most of its inhabitants are humble non-bending fishermen mostly forgotten by the world. What could this island possibly hold to warrant such fanatic obsession that the daughters of this generation's fiercest Kyoshi Warrior have to be abducted? What had Akahana done to Huo's mother?
Still reeling from the dread of the journal falling into profane hands, Huo's torment deepened as the Dai Li now held the critical message perilously close to the candle's flame. To them, a mere scrap of parchment etched with cryptic words is insignificant, destroying it would at least thwart the seditionists' plans of enacting the machinations their Master had woven for this city.
"Cease this at once!" Huo cried out.
Without hesitation, she unleashed a searing stream of flame, catching many by surprise. Though her hands were bound in earthen cuffs, her mouth remained free, and even this desperate assault failed to rattle the ever-watchful Inquisitor.
With a forceful yank from an object beside him, the lone Dai Li agent braced himself against the searing blaze, standing steadfast while Mayumi and the other cultural guardians recoiled from the oppressive heat. Unfazed by the risk of being scorched, the Inquisitor gripped the shopkeeper captured the previous night, wielding the man as a living shield, extracting grim utility from his plight.
Perhaps this cruel fate was merciful by comparison for an acolyte who feared the divine consequences of inadvertently inviting the Dai Li into their sacred sanctuary. Yet, to have one's face blasted by a torrent of flame was no gentle journey to their beloved Heavenly Kingdom.
"No!" Huo screamed with bitter regret.
The Inquisitor, after flinging the charred body aside, swiftly slammed an earthen gauntlet towards Huo's neck, pinning her to suppress any further bursts of fire. The hold was firm but still allowed the zealot to speak.
"You Acolytes of San Bao, so brazen and audacious, but still chose to skulk like vermin within this city of harmony," the Inquisitor said with contempt. "Finding your kind in a city as vast as Ba Sing Se was akin to seeking a needle in a haystack. Yet, the effort was worth every hardship. I harbor no hesitation in making enemies of those who threaten the fragile peace upheld behind these walls, and I especially cannot tolerate those like you, who would carelessly defile the few sanctuaries that endure in this war-ravaged realm. Such is the nature of those who dabble in heterodoxal beliefs."
The Acolytes of San Bao might be mad enough to raze entire towns and burn temples dedicated to any deity but the Master. But here in Ba Sing Se, grandiose schemes like the Eternal Balance find no soil in which to take root, crushed under the iron fist of the city.
"I trust this interrogation will continue at a later time," the Inquisitor declared abruptly. "Huo, is it? I advise you to show more cooperation. Among my colleagues, many favor the swift execution of your fellow conspirators. Perhaps you can spare a few by your compliance."
With a curt gesture, the Inquisitor commanded Mayumi to leave the chamber, escorting her away from the scene.
"Wait, daughter of Akahana, there is something I must ask!" Huo's voice rang out, desperate yet tinged with fanaticism, the kind of words that could never be fully trusted.
Mayumi met the Firebender's gaze steadily. "I am listening," she replied solemnly. To grant a moment's voice to one who sought harm upon her sister was already a mercy beyond what the renegade deserved.
"In your heart… do you truly revere Avatar Kyoshi as a paragon?" Huo pressed, her question earnest.
Mayumi regarded the zealot with cautious suspicion, wary of the true intent behind her words. The question perplexed her. "Myself, my family, and all my people do," she replied steadily. "I am a Kyoshi Warrior. To show anything less than reverence to the very founder of my island would render me no more than a disgrace."
Much like countless spiritual traditions across the four bending nations, the Avatar serves as a sacred figure within the Earth Kingdom's folk religion, a living bridge between mortals and the divine. Temples and shrines dedicated to the Avatar stand as testaments to their enduring legacy. Kyoshi Island, the birthplace of the legendary Avatar Kyoshi, is no exception. That formidable woman alone forged an elite order of warriors and shaped the island itself through mastery of the four elements. Born into this heritage, Mayumi considered it her solemn duty to honor the one whose influence shaped every corner of her home. Without such veneration, Kyoshi Island would cease to be itself, an island untethered from its root.
Huo, having absorbed Mayumi's succinct declaration, finally spoke. Her voice laced with a quiet challenge that inevitably stirred Mayumi's ire.
"What if I could prove to you that Avatar Kyoshi is undeserving of your worship?" Huo's words cut sharp, oblivious to the flicker of fury igniting within Mayumi. "If Kyoshi truly were as powerful as you claim, why then have her successive reincarnations fallen repeatedly? You claim devotion to the Avatar, yes? Surely you have heard how the last Avatar was defeated by an ordinary mortal. But know this, I am not your adversary. Nor is my Master your enemy. If I were to show you that my benevolent Master's blessings surpass those of Kyoshi, would you then be willing to place your faith in him, the true savior to whom your struggles should be entrusted?"
Confusion struck Mayumi's face, the sole reaction in a space filled with indifferent Dai Li agents, who have likely grown accustomed to these zealots trying to fruitlessly convert them.
"I sense in you a warrior of great virtue," Huo spoke on. "Yet even I can feel you harbor a trace of doubt about the hollow faith in Avatars. Such a disposition pleases the Master greatly. He undoubtedly has a grand design for you too. But you must trust in him. Avatar Kyoshi has led you astray, a mere false idol wielded by your elders and parents to bind you in servitude. That woman Akahana cannot be trusted. Cling to the lies spun by your leaders, and destruction is all that awaits you." Now, the Firebender tries to present a solution, even while some of the nearby Dai Li advise the Kyoshi Warrior to simply ignore this fool. "Yet hope remains. Should you forsake your people's misguided worship and surrender yourself to the Master, he promises rewards beyond imagining. Even as a non-bender, his miracles can awaken elemental powers within you and bestow boundless joy in his Heavenly Kingdom, where the flesh never falters nor fades. Do not trust your village elders, Kyoshi Warrior. The Master stands here now, arms open wide, ready to embrace you. He is kind, merciful, loving, generous, forgiving, and above all, slow to anger. The worship of any Avatars or spirits is a deception steeped in darkness. But the Master is the true savior, bearer of the Eternal Balance. Devotion to Kyoshi is a path of evil. Only through the Master's teachings can you find real salvation. You must awaken to the truth like so many others, or you would be blind to the reality of this world."
"I am the one who is blind?" Mayumi challenged, her eyes blazing with lethal intensity that reminds the world whose blood flow in her veins. That gaze alone was enough to unsettle some of the nearby Dai Li agents.
Mayumi drew a steadying breath, striving to quell the swell of frustration rising within her. She is all too aware that the Dai Li might have been incarcerating these people in staggering numbers for years. It was almost astonishing that they had not all succumbed to senility after enduring the relentless tirades and rants that could without hesitation be dismissed as nothing short of idiotic.
"Listen well, Huo," Mayumi warned. "If by some miracle you escape this place, I will personally ensure you never gaze upon the heavens again."
Her footsteps quickened, nearly storming toward the heavy door. As the three Dai Li escorts ushered her out, the chained prisoner's voice persisted, desperate and unwavering, straining to reach Mayumi's ears.
"Daughter of Akahana," Huo implored urgently. "Before you delve into my mother's journal, know this. She harbors nothing but love for you and your people. She would stake her very life to save you from the web of falsehoods! I trust your reason will pierce the veil of Akahana's lies. Should you wish to understand more, I remain her, ready to reveal the Master's true teachings—"
Dai Li agents pushed the cold steel door to close it abruptly, sealing off the Firebender's fervent plea. After the ordeal, the silence that settled felt almost like a balm.
"Good riddance," remarked Zhu Di's partner with a dry chuckle. "Next time, someone hand me an earplug."
Mayumi strode on, her annoyance simmering beneath her measured pace. The Inquisitor soon fell into step beside her, offering a calculated thanks for accepting an invitation to provoke the Firebender's reactions.
"Are you not afraid that entrusting me with this journal might unravel the fragile harmony you so dearly cherish?" Mayumi challenged.
"As I've said," the Inquisitor replied. "The insufferable fool who penned this diary is as shortsighted as the rest. That journal in your hand is worthless to us." He emphasized their mission, the total eradication of the Acolytes of San Bao within the city walls by severing the vital link between potential converts and the so-called Master, which is the Apostle, whose role serves as a conduit for the Master's clandestine teachings preserved in their sacred text. "My colleagues and I seek the so-called Golden Book, purportedly authored by the figure known as the Master. Without it, how can new acolytes arise? As for you, enjoy the journal's contents at your leisure. I suspect you'll be as surprised as I was. Your mother certainly lives up to her fierce reputation, albeit with imperfect beginnings."
Not even the hardening of Mayumi's gaze could temper the resoluteness behind the Dai Li's words. He merely concluded that perhaps the Kyoshi Warrior ought to peruse the journal herself, therein lie secrets shrouded long before her birth.
"The way you toyed with them," she inquired. "Was it truly necessary?"
She sensed a flicker of offense at her question, after all, it could easily be construed as yet another slight aimed at him and the entire clandestine order he represented.
"Honor and virtue alone do not dispense justice," he declared with finality. "Nor can mere adherence to exemplary morals alleviate the suffering of the masses. While I acknowledge your audacity and skill, the true essence of morality is no subject for facile judgment. As to your accusation, know that I would never squander those who retain value in my eyes. The pursuit of knowledge about the elusive figure known as the Master, assuming he even exists, remains a pragmatic necessity."
"If you hold harmony so dear," Mayumi pressed. "Why not reveal to the local people about the lunatics who lurk behind these walls?"
Her challenge was twofold. To probe the mindset of these agents and to reflect on whether her own people had done similar things against an unfamiliar faith.
The Dai Li met her words with effortless composure, underscoring the distinct mandates they fulfilled, mandates born of the shared vision of their founder. Though he acknowledged the Kyoshi Warrior's disdain, branding them as stains upon a glorious legacy, such trivial disputes paled in comparison to the unyielding duty of serving as the city's unseen eyes and ears. Having borne witness to the most harrowing depths of human frailty, such as mothers bartering their children for a bottle of wine, kin turning fratricidal for mere copper, the birth of cynicism is but an inevitable consequence of a thankless existence. While the revered devotees of Avatar Kyoshi basked in the warm embrace of sunlight, men like them lurked in literal shadows, toiling as custodians of the Earth Kingdom's thousand-year heritage. Should some wanton cult dare to usurp that legacy and supplant it with madness, death would be the least of concerns for the transgressors.
"What would you do if a strange faith from distant shores washed upon your land, promising eternal bliss and unending satiation simply for surrendering to its tenets? How would you react if betrayal cut deep, so deep that you were forced to raise your hand against your own sisters?" The Dai Li's words compelled Mayumi's eyes to widen, yet in this decrepit, shadowed chamber, she dared not voice protest. Instead, she listened with wary silence as he continued. "It is an alluring proposition, especially in the Lower Ring where many covet lives of opulence, mansions and ceaseless joy. It matters little to us whether these acolytes of heterodoxal beliefs speak truth or falsehood, as the mere promise of an immortal existence in some glorious realm free from hunger and sorrow is a great temptation, one that the shrines and temples devoted to the Avatars have failed to fulfill. It is irresistible, comforting even. If you are one of the leaders entrusted with the stewardship of your island, I doubt you would tolerate an insidious presence intent on converting your people away from the sacred veneration of Kyoshi. And what about a Kyoshi Warrior who cast aside her armor and robe, choosing instead to worship some remote deity, forsaking both her family and the sanctity of Kyoshi? Though you may regard me and my colleagues with nothing but hatred for our mere existence, I urge you to heed my uncomfortable counsel. The most egregious traitors must be purged and obliterated from memory. But for you, they must also never be neglected. This is the harsh morality to which those like myself, mere instruments of a state, is willing to adhere. I care not if the seditionist shares my blood or if they are another Dai Li, should they fail my expectations to uphold the harmony behind these walls, I would take the satisfaction in their swift disposal."
The Dai Li turned his gaze brazenly toward Mayumi's face, which is an etched mingling of disgust and incredulity. It is not every day one encountered a person so indifferent to killing, yet who also bore no mark of banditry or savagery. Moreover, the very notion that a Kyoshi Warrior might slay a fellow sister is not merely blasphemous, it is an impossibility in the minds of many. The suggestion alone only deepened Mayumi's contempt for these vile entities that sullied Kyoshi's legacy.
"I understand honor is woven into the very fabric of your people," the Dai Li continued. "But asinine virtues such as the vague and shapeless notions of goodness are insufficient to safeguard the welfare of the masses. I welcome the scorn of others who brand me cruel or unwise, as such mockery is a far kinder fate than being lampooned for thousands of years, the same kind of legacy with foolish kings of supposed sagely morality could not mask their incompetence, leaving millions to suffer."
Mayumi responded only with silence. It was not agreement, but restraint. In a realm scarred by kind yet ineffectual rulers whose reigns brought hardship to millions, her lips felt compelled to seal themselves. And if fate ever elevated her to lead her village, she knew too well that she might be forced to visit shadowy means to protect her people.
At last, the Inquisitor released her, sending her back into the labyrinthine streets to resume her surveillance of Shan. Though Mayumi had unwittingly facilitated this arrangement, she is acutely aware that she too is watched, a grim reminder that in Ba Sing Se, to stray beyond bounds is to walk a perilous path indeed.
...
Somehow, they found themselves once again on the very street that led to Shan's residence. The two Dai Li agents inclined their heads in a curt bow, and Zhu Di remarked that the White Scholar's delivery boy has once again brought a meal, judging by the aroma lingering in the air.
"A word of counsel might just keep you breathing a while longer," Zhu Di warned as Mayumi began her steady tread back toward the walled compound. "The Inquisitor is no trifling matter. While your concern for those insidious cultists is noted, it is folly to challenge the authority of the state in exercising its own jurisdiction."
He offered no further elaboration, wary that speaking too much could imperil his own life. Yet, compared to the likes of Hao Jing's city soldiers, these ruthless enforcers displayed a proficient ruthlessness in rooting out those who lurked in shadows, a skill the Inquisitor evidently wished to demonstrate to her.
"He harbors no qualms about condemning even those closest to him," Zhu Di added grimly. "Not even the likes of ourselves are exempt."
"Especially not us," echoed the other Dai Li with certainty.
Confronted by such merciless resolve, Mayumi felt the weight of caution press heavily upon her. Should she be summoned again, prudence would be an ally. The two Dai Li soon excused themselves, casually disappearing down the street. Though it was no secret these shadowy agents occasionally surveilled promising scholars with ambitions to ascend the city's hierarchy, even Mayumi had to admit that planting an informant is a far more insidious stratagem. One she had regrettably facilitated.
Upon reaching the residence's threshold, Mayumi heard the gentle sound of sweeping drifted from the northern chamber, evidence that the scholar had already returned. Swiftly, she scaled the garden wall and alighted lightly upon the rooftops. With Shan's gaze turned away from the courtyard, she slipped silently to the grass below and hurried into her quarters.
In haste, she concealed Huo's journal beneath a loose bundle of hay before exiting as if nothing out of the ordinary had transpired.
"I trust your name was inscribed correctly," Shan's voice called as he descended the stone steps, a broomstick in one hand.
Mayumi composed herself quickly, striving to appear calm as the scholar presented her with a small wooden license, a round medallion diminutive enough to slip into a pocket. Supposedly it serves as a badge authorizing the bearer to carry arms. Its accompanying strings allowed it to be conveniently secured around a belt.
"Yes, it is correct, thank you," Mayumi replied, scrutinizing the carved syllables on the wooden token with the false name she had provided Shan. Despite the dialectical differences between Ba Sing Se and Kyoshi Island, the uniform script remained a tenuous thread of connection amidst the realm's fractured chaos.
Yet she feared a minor misstep. Her fabricated tale painted her as a traveling theater performer and moreover, illiterate. Perhaps Shan would overlook the inconsistency, attributing it to her novice familiarity with written words, understanding only her own name.
"Time will still be needed to procure a weapon," Shan stated. "Meanwhile, yours truly intend to rectify the chaos wrought by Ximen Qing's current paramour. Most regrettably, this upheaval has interrupted the lesson, which was supposed to also elaborate on a certain affliction the Earth Kingdom continues to grapple with. It is an extension of the patrimonial scorn, the seed from which wars and uprisings grow. It is the disease known as Enfeoffment."
The stark reminder pulled Mayumi back to the chaotic reality of the courtyard. Scrolls and books lay scattered, torn casualties of the household guards' disdain for the literati's works. For a clan intent on luring Shan away from Ba Sing Se's official government, it would be no surprise that Lady Jin Lian might soon face repercussions for such a reckless and unauthorized intrusion. Even Ximen Qing is not foolish enough to openly offend a scholar of Shan's stature, such an act would do little to benefit his family.
Amidst the debris, Mayumi retrieved a particular parchment, the very poem Shan had instructed her to show Lady Jin Lian. The White Scholar soon noticed it, remarking that the piece was intended for an important patron of the Upper Ring, its significance far surpassing the trivial requests of common merchants or frivolous families.
"Is it still salvageable?" Mayumi inquired, eyeing the ruined scroll. Jin Lian's bodyguards had shown no respect for the scholar's possessions, and this specially commissioned poem had become collateral damage.
Shan regarded it with a muted, almost vacant expression. A serious man and a perfectionist in every respect, he nevertheless showed remarkable composure in the face of such a loss. The ink on the scroll had been utterly distorted by careless trampling, the syllables scattered into illegibility. Any other scholar would have despaired at the thought of replicating it perfectly. Inspiration is fleeting, a poem born in a singular moment can never be truly recreated once lost.
"No matter," Shan murmured, releasing the scroll gently so it fluttered to the ground. "Yours truly shall conjure another page. The essence of this poem is etched indelibly in my memory. Whether the parchment perishes holds no consequence."
"Can you truly recall your verses word for word?" Mayumi asked skeptically, doubtful that the scholar could flawlessly replicate his own composition.
Yet, this is Shan the White Scholar, an unparalleled prodigy who had claimed the illustrious title of Zhuangyuan in the most grueling examination known to the world. It is hardly surprising if he regarded incomplete works with scant regard.
Mayumi's question went unanswered directly. Instead, Shan revealed that the commission extended beyond poetry to include a portrait, a task yet untouched. The client's intent was clear, a painting to accompany the love poem, crafted expressly to captivate someone named Lady Qian Jin, the sole heiress of a recently ascendant military house.
"It is indeed folly," Shan declared, devoid of enthusiasm. "To believe that a mere marriage, brokered by ink-stained documents could sway the destiny of two Upper Ring families. My talent was employed solely to bolster the deficiencies of the client's son. Though this union was originally arranged, the son's dismal performance in the Civil Service Examination has cast a pall of doubt over his worthiness in the eyes of Lady Qian Jin's father. Naturally, the client must call upon talents such as mine to surmount this intricate conundrum."
It is almost typical for a woman's parents to demand more from prospective sons-in-law, however superficial those demands might be. Driven by desperation, the client was likely willing to lavish extravagant resources to safeguard their lineage and preserve their standing, understandable in a society where Upper Ring gossip is as relentless as it was merciless.
"But you're the one who must execute this task," Mayumi remarked, stating the obvious.
"It is... pathetic," Shan muttered. Whether he directed this self-reproach inwardly or toward the client's son was unclear. Surely, the White Scholar believed that a mind of his caliber deserved loftier endeavors befitting his intellectual prowess. To compensate for another's inadequacy is hardly the pursuit of a true meritocrat.
The revelation came unsurprisingly. The client's son is none other than Gong Zi, the eldest heir of the Gan Jin tribe. Mayumi groaned audibly, recalling the man's obsession with perfection in sanitation and his biting, judgmental remarks.
According to Shan, a scholar well-versed in Ganjinese culture, Young Master Gong Zi and his brother are scions of the illustrious Gan Jin patriarchal line. From the dawn of their history, the Ganjinese had always been paragons of refinement, fastidious devotees of high culture in every detail. As an ethnic group that prided itself on immaculate cleanliness and an exacting code of conduct, nearly every member of the Gan Jin clan could be counted among society's elite. Though many are obsessed with trifling particulars and bound by a rigid lifestyle, none could deny that their venerable traditions had propelled them to flourish within the Upper Ring's exalted cultural milieu, to which they adapted with effortless grace. Their scrupulous sanitation and disciplined regimen had preserved the patriarch's vigor well into his twilight years. Revered by many denizens of the Upper Ring, this venerable figure nonetheless bore sons who fell short of his brilliance.
"I see," Mayumi realized, recalling her own mother's caustic assessments of prospective sons-in-law often followed by merciless expulsion. "Gong Zi failed to pass the Keju exam. That alone casts serious doubt on his suitability as a husband for Lady Qian Jin."
In the Earth Kingdom, it is near customary for a member of a prominent family to pass some form of the Civil Service Examinations to prove intellectual merit. Gong Zi's failure to even attain the lowest Jinshi rank cast a shadow over the entire arranged marriage. Should the Gan Jin patriarch fail to rectify this blight, the whole ordeal would surely be dissolved.
"Yours truly care little for the feelings of either Gong Zi or Qian Jin," Shan replied icily, a reaction typical of his disdain for patrimonial customs throughout the entire Earth Kingdom. "I also hold clan politics in contempt, even if its excesses in Ba Sing Se are far less egregious than the warlordism beyond the city's borders. Yet my mentor has often reminded me that until we craft the world we deserve, we must still improvise, catering to the sanctioned whims of the people. If this farce of a political marriage is what anchors a military general to Ba Sing Se instead of some other state, then I shall begrudgingly shoulder the burden." He fixed his gaze on her. "This conversation is for our ears alone. Apart from my mentor and us, no one else is to know."
Mayumi inclined her head in acknowledgment. She harbored no desire to entangle herself in aristocratic intrigues any more than Shan, who now rested upon the cold stone steps, endeavoring to temper the frustration of his underutilized intellect. Yet, perhaps like the elders from her island home, she is not averse to safeguarding certain secrets in exchange for a modicum of peace, an attitude that many in these turbulent times would silently endorse.
Thus, the day drew to a close once more. Though Shan lamented the disruption, he vowed to resume his lessons with Satchiko by further imparting his disdain for enfeoffment, what he deemed the gravest sin of the ancient Earth Kingdom rulers and the principal catalyst behind the continent-wide wars throughout history, including the current strife among the independent states that ravaged lands beyond Ba Sing Se.
But for Mayumi, all she desired now is to lose herself in the quiet sanctuary of a book.